Palm Beach Central High School’s competitive cheerleading team had yet another strong, competitive and memorable season. On Saturday, Feb. 1, the team was in Lakeland to compete in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 2A competitive cheerleading state championships at the RP Funding Center.
According to head coach Caitlin Flaherty, her 13-player contingent had an outstanding performance in Lakeland, competing in the small varsity category.
“We competed in the state semifinals and ended up seventh place,” said Flaherty, who just finished her ninth year as a cheer coach at Palm Beach Central, the last four years as head coach. “Although we did not go on to the finals round, we performed our best routine of the season. Our score increased five points from regionals to states, which was one of our goals. Our final score was 71.4 with zero deductions.”
The 13 members of Palm Beach Central’s competitive cheer team are Arielle Borgella, Sarah Hilliard, Olivia Keys, Juliana Lamb, Olivia Matushin, Olivia Miller, Dajah Naar, Abigail Rodriguez, Kylie Rosenbaum, Anabella Tardivo, Evelyn Vomero, Kylah Willingham and Delsie Wise.
Palm Beach Central’s routine lasted for two minutes and 30 seconds. The routine consisted of a 60-second cheer session and a 90-second music section.
To get it right in Lakeland with no deductions required months of practice.
“We have been practicing this routine since last October, but we have been working on individual skills that went into our routine since last May,” Flaherty explained.
For Palm Beach Central’s competitive cheer program, advancing to the FHSAA’s competitive cheer state championships is not the annual goal of the program. Instead, it’s the expectation.
“Palm Beach Central has qualified for FHSAA state competitive cheer championships for as long as I have been a part of the program, including the four years that I was a student-athlete, from 2012 to 2016,” Flaherty said. “We have advanced to the FHSAA’s state finals twice, in 2019 and 2020.”
